The Most Famous
SOCIOLOGISTS from United Kingdom
This page contains a list of the greatest British Sociologists. The pantheon dataset contains 79 Sociologists, 5 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 4th most number of Sociologists behind Germany, and France.
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary British Sociologists of all time. This list of famous British Sociologists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Anthony Giddens (b. 1938)
With an HPI of 68.71, Anthony Giddens is the most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages on wikipedia.
Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities. He has academic appointments in approximately twenty different universities throughout the world and has received numerous honorary degrees. His works are divided into four stages: The first one involved outlining a new vision of what sociology is, presenting a theoretical and methodological understanding of that field based on a critical reinterpretation of the classics. His major publications of that era include Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971) and The Class Structure of the Advanced Societies (1973). In the second stage, Giddens developed the theory of structuration, an analysis of agency and structure in which primacy is granted to neither. His works of that period, such as New Rules of Sociological Method (1976), Central Problems in Social Theory (1979) and The Constitution of Society (1984), brought him international fame on the sociological arena. The third stage of Giddens's academic work was concerned with modernity, globalisation and politics, especially the impact of modernity on social and personal life. This stage is reflected by his critique of postmodernity and discussions of a new "utopian-realist" Third Way in politics which is visible in The Consequences of Modernity (1990), Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), The Transformation of Intimacy (1992), Beyond Left and Right (1994) and The Third Way (1998). In the most recent stage, Giddens has turned his attention to a more concrete range of problems relevant to the evolution of world society, namely environmental issues, focusing especially upon debates about climate change in his book The Politics of Climate Change (2009); the role and nature of the European Union in Turbulent and Mighty Continent (2014); and in a series of lectures and speeches also the nature and consequences of the Digital Revolution. Giddens served as Director of the London School of Economics from 1997 to 2003, where he is now Emeritus Professor at the Department of Sociology. He is a life fellow of King's College, Cambridge. According to the Open Syllabus Project, Giddens is the most frequently cited author on college syllabi for sociology courses.
2. Basil Bernstein (1924 - 2000)
With an HPI of 51.98, Basil Bernstein is the 2nd most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Basil Bernard Bernstein (1 November 1924 – 24 September 2000) was a British sociologist known for his work in the sociology of education. He worked on socio-linguistics and the connection between the manner of speaking and social organization.
3. T. H. Marshall (1893 - 1981)
With an HPI of 51.33, T. H. Marshall is the 3rd most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Thomas Humphrey Marshall (19 December 1893 – 29 November 1981) was an English sociologist who is best known for his essay "Citizenship and Social Class," a key work on citizenship that introduced the idea that full citizenship includes civil, political, and social citizenship.
4. Michael Mann (b. 1942)
With an HPI of 48.44, Michael Mann is the 4th most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Michael Mann FBA (born 1942) is a British emeritus professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and at the University of Cambridge. Mann holds dual British and United States citizenships.
5. Anthony D. Smith (1939 - 2016)
With an HPI of 47.06, Anthony D. Smith is the 5th most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Anthony David Stephen Smith (23 September 1939 – 19 July 2016) was a British historical sociologist who, at the time of his death, was Professor Emeritus of Nationalism and Ethnicity at the London School of Economics. He is considered one of the founders of the interdisciplinary field of nationalism studies. Smith took his first degree in classics and philosophy at Oxford University and his master's degree and doctorate in sociology at the London School of Economics. He was the first president of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism.
6. Margaret Archer (1943 - 2023)
With an HPI of 46.62, Margaret Archer is the 6th most famous British Sociologist. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Margaret Scotford Archer (20 January 1943 – 21 May 2023) was a British sociologist, who spent most of her academic career at the University of Warwick where she was for many years Professor of Sociology. She was also a professor at l'Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. She is best known for coining the term elisionism in her 1995 book Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach. On 14 April 2014, Archer was named by Pope Francis to succeed former Harvard law professor and US Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon as President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and served in this position until her retirement on 27 March 2019.
7. John Urry (1946 - 2016)
With an HPI of 44.96, John Urry is the 7th most famous British Sociologist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
John Richard Urry (; 1 June 1946, London – 18 March 2016, Lancaster) was a British sociologist who served as a professor at Lancaster University. He is noted for work in the fields of the sociology of tourism and mobility. He wrote books on many other aspects of modern society including the transition away from "organised capitalism", the sociology of nature and environmentalism, and social theory in general.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as British sociologists born between 1893 and 1946. Of these 7, 2 (28.57%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British sociologists include Anthony Giddens, and Michael Mann. The most famous deceased British sociologists include Basil Bernstein, T. H. Marshall, and Anthony D. Smith. As of April 2024, 2 new British sociologists have been added to Pantheon including T. H. Marshall, and John Urry.
Living British Sociologists
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Basil Bernstein
1924 - 2000
HPI: 51.98
T. H. Marshall
1893 - 1981
HPI: 51.33
Anthony D. Smith
1939 - 2016
HPI: 47.06
Margaret Archer
1943 - 2023
HPI: 46.62
John Urry
1946 - 2016
HPI: 44.96
Newly Added British Sociologists (2024)
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Which Sociologists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Sociologists since 1700.
